Curling iron having different sized hair winding tubes



Dec. 21, 1965 F. QUINIO ETAL CURLING IRON HAVING DIFFERENT SIZED HAIR WINDING TUBES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1962 /NVEN7'OP.

BY 56 Maw iii] i b k W United States Patent 3,224,454 CURLING IRON HAVING DIFFERENT SIZED HAIR WINDING TUBES Frank Quinio, 532 2nd Ave., Tarentum, Pa, and Louis Quinio, In, 522 Beaver St., Sewickley, Pa. Filed May 24, 1962, Sell. No. 197,529 2 Claims. '(Cl. 132-63) This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 124,474 filed July 17, 1961.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in hair dressing implements and the method of curling and drying hair, and it is among the objects thereof to provide a device for separating strands of hair by combing them then curling the separated strands by winding them around a heated element and finally drying and again combing the curled strands while utilizing either cold or hot air on the curled hair.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a curling iron with a plurality of adaptor tubes adapted to be stacked on or used singly with the curling iron to produce curls of different size and density and having clamping means for holding the hair on said curlers while being treated.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a method of curling hair while it is drying by means of a hot or cold blast of air as heat is applied to the strands of hair being curled thereby reducing the time for curling to a fraction of the time consumed by present-day practice.

It is another object of the invention to use a plurality of superposed tubes of different sizes with heat conducting means for simultaneously heating all of said tubes for carrying out the steps of initially curling the hair strands on the outer or largest tube, removing said tube and wrapping the curled strands around the second tube, removing the latter and wrapping the more condensed curled strands on the third tube and finally on the heating element while maintaining a blast of drying air on said curled hair strands.

It is still another object of the invention to provide such adaptor type curlers with special means for conducting heat from the curling iron away to the remote part ofthe adaptor tube curlers to speed up the heating thereof and which means also functions to assist in spacing the adaptor tubes when they are stacked on one another on the curling iron.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a curling iron having teeth upstanding thereon and having openings in spaced relation with the teeth extending to the interior of the curling iron and which is provided with a clamping element that is adapted to engage the curling iron or adaptor tubes adjacent said row of teeth.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hair dressing implement of the above-designated character in which a heater and blower may be attached to the curling iron for supplying hot or cold air to pass through the curling iron and out of the openings in the wall thereof.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide an efiicient construction for adapting a hollow handle to the curling iron and a blower attachment to the said handle in which the adaptors for attaching the handle to the curler and the blower to the handle provides for ready assembly and access to the several parts for replacement or repairs, the heating element of the curling device and the electrical elements of the blower fan being separately connected and provided with separate switches whereby they may be energized and deenergized independently of one another.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of a 3,224,454 Patented Dec. 21, I965 co-pending application Serially Numbered 124,474 filed July 17, 1961 in which a plurality of adaptor tubes are mounted on a curling iron, the present invention being an improvement on the construction of the tubes to enhance their heat transfer ability and for more positively engaging the hair on the said tubes by means of a clamping member.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of a hair dressing implement embodying the principles of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view thereof showing a vinyl cap with a flexible slot for receiving an electrical conductor;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective of a large curler tube which is an adaptor for use with the main curling iron;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of a spider for mounting the electrical conductors in the handle portion taken along the line 44, FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section of the basic curler iron having teeth extending thereon, a plurality of adaptors constituting different sized curling tubes and a clamping element;

FIGURE 6 is the curler shown in FIGURE 1 with a fan or blower attachment added;

FIGURE '7 is a side elevational view of the blower attachment of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a cross section taken along the line 88 of FIG. 6; and,

FIGURE 9 is the end of the handle and an end cap that slides thereover prior to the application of the blower element.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the numeral 1 is a substantially cylindrical heating element that may be designated the basic curler having a heating element 2 therein and a row of teeth 3 upstanding thereon with a plurality of slotted adaptor sleeves or curling tubes mounted on the element 1 in the manner shown in FIGURE 5, there being 3 of such tubes numbered 4, 5 and 6. The curler element 1 and the curling tubes 4, 5 and 6 are provided with perforations or openings 7, 8, 9 and 10 through which air is supplied to the hair being curled, as will be hereinafter described.

The curling tubes, like the tube 6 shown in FIGURE 3, are provided with veins 11 of substantially Z shape, the short legs 12 and 13 being slightly curved complementary to the shape of the curling tube. As shown in FIGURE 3, one of the legs of the Z-shaped vein may be welded to the inner wall of the tube with the other leg, such as the member 13 in sliding engagement with the basic curler element 1, as shown in FIGURE 5. The curling tubes may be provided with end closures 14 and 15 having openings 16 and 17, the opening 16 being fairly large to make it easy to insert around the basic curler element 1 and the opening 17 may be more or less a sliding fit with the member I to effect contact for distributing heat from the member 1 to the walls of the curling tube 6. The veins 11 of course are designed to transmit heat from the basic curler 1 throughout the stacked curling rings, as shown in FIGURE 5.

Again referring to FIGURE 3, the curler tubes are provided with a slot 18 which may be open at the front end to slide over the row of teeth 3, or the slot may be closed at both ends and placed on the basic element 1 and then lowered over the row of teeth if the tube is of sufficient diameter to clear the teeth and element 1.

A clamp 20, FIGURES 1 and 5, has a slot 21 to pass over the teeth 3 of the comb and rest on either the basic 3 curler element 1 or upon the stacked curling rings, as shown in FIGURE 5, to hold the strands of hair for curling them around the curling ring or basic curler. As shown in FIGURE 1, the clamp 20 is pivotally mounted at 2'2 and is provided with a short lever 23 that is depressed by the thumb to open the clamp. A spring 24 is provided to normally bias the clamp 20 to a closed position, one arm of the spring being disposed underneath the lever 23 and the other arm 25 resting on the basic curler element 1. Mounted on the end of the member l is a hollow handle 28 having a reduced end 29 with a recess for receiving one end of the basic curler 1, the handle 28 being hollow and preferably made of a molded plastic. Disposed within the handle 28 is a spider 30 for supporting electrical conductor elements 31 that extend to the terminals 32 of the basic curler element 1. Tubing of insulating material 33 insulates the electrical conductor from the wall of the curler element 1 and the heating element 2 extends from the ends of the members 32, as shown in FIGURE 1.

A closure or end cap 35 having a bead 36 slides over the end of the handle 28 and snaps into a groove 39 of the handle. The end cap 35 is provided with a flexible slot through which the electrical conductors 31 extend and a switch 40 may be provided by mounting in the handle or on a separate extension line which has a plug 41 for connection with an electrical circuit. The flexible slot of the end cap 35 is designated by the numeral 42 in FIGURE 2 of the drawing. The spider 30 is more clearly shown in FIGURE -4 of the drawing.

With reference to FIGURES 6 to 9 of the drawing, the basic curler element-ll and the handle 28 is generally the same as shown in FIGURE 1 except that the view is a top plan view taken at right angles to the view of FIG- URE 1. In FIGURE 6 a fan or blower housing 45 having a reduced portion 46 is slipped over the handle 28 and a motor 47 is disposed in the housing 45 and independently connected to an electrical circuit through conductors 52 having a switch 49 and a connecting plug 50. The switch 49 may be built into the handle the same as the switch 40 of FIGURE 1. Fan blades 48 are provided for producing air pressure from the open end of the fan, as shown in FIGURE 8, into the hollow handle and thence through the passage of the basic curler element 1 out of the openings 7 that are spaced around the teeth 3 of the basic curler element 1. From the openings 7, the air passes through the perforations 8-10 of the stacked adaptor curling tubes as shown in FIGURES 3 and 5.

As shown in FIGURE 7, the reduced end 46 of the blower housing is provided with a slot 51 to clear the conductor 31 from the heating element and as shown in FIGURE 8, the end of the housing 45 is provided with a spider 53 with the lead exit 54 for the conductor 52 and mounting holes 55 for connect-ing the motor 47. The end of the fan housing is open for air to enter therein and pass out through the restricted portion 46 of the fan housing. The fan housing is likewise made of a durable plastic material and, together with the handle made of a similar material, it is lightweight and easily manipulated by the beautician or stylist or the person whose hair is being curled.

In FIGURE 9, an adaptor 35 is shown with a flexible opening 42 for receiving a plug 41 to which the conduit 31 may be connected to avoid extending a lead from the motor outside of the implement. The numeral 36 illustrates a reduced end of the handle portion 28 over which the adaptor 35 slides with the bead 39 snapping into the groove 36, as will appear obvious.

In the use of the above-described hair dressing implement, the operator energizes the circuit of the heating element 2 by plugging in the extension 41 or manipulating the switch 40. The clamp 20 is released to its closed position and the implement is reheated with the adaptor curling tubes stacked on the basic heating element 1 in the manner shown in FIGURE 5. When a suitable working temperature has been reached, the strands of hair to be curled are combed over with the teeth 3 to spread them but the clamp 20 is opened by depressing lever 23 with the thumb. As the hair strands are combed out and the comb is drawn to nearly the ends of the strands, the clamp 20 is released to engage the hair and then the implement is subjected to a rotating motion to wrap the strands around the curler 2 where it is held a few moments and the clamp 20 is then opened by depressing lever 23. The comb is then drawn through the curler and if a tighter curl is desired, the outer tube 4 is removed and the operation is repeated by wrapping the already curled hair around the adaptor tube 5. However, in use the adaptor tubes are successfully used for making large and small curls at the rear and side of the head for which purpose different size adaptor curling tubes are employed.

The setting of the curl is extended by turning on the blower fans 48 by simply operating switch 49 and the air blown in passes through the openings la into the stacked tubes and through the openings in said tubes to the curled hair strands.

This speeds up the setting of the curl. However, if some solution has been used and it is desired to dry the curls, the heating element 2 may be turned off and cold air blown through the openings 1a into the stacked or single adaptor curling tubes, as the case may be.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. A hair dressing implement for winding and heating strands of hair and for fixing the curled hair by drying the curled strands while under tension on the curling surface of said implement, consisting of a hollow cylindrical curling iron with a row of upstanding teeth at one side having perforations in the wall thereof and having a heating element disposed therein, said curling iron being connected to a source of air under pressure to deliver air around said heating element and through the perforations of said hollow curling iron, a plurality of tubelike adaptors of diiferent diameters mounted on said curling iron in contact therewith to provide curling surfaces of greater diameter than said cylindrical curling iron, said tube-like adaptors having perforations for the escape of air passing from the perforations in the wall of said curling iron and having slotted portions receiving the teeth of the curling iron to eflfect intimate contact with the hollow cylindrical curling iron.

2. A hair dressing implement as set forth in claim 1 in which the tube-like adaptors are provided with spacers extending radially inward between the inner and outer walls of adjacent tubes for conducting heat from the curling iron to said tubes, one of said spacers contacting said curling iron.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 847,872 3/1907 Allen et al. l32ll2 2,461,170 2/1949 Morretta.

FOREIGN PATENTS 37,551 5/ 1927 Denmark. 484,925 9/1953 Italy.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS J. DEMBO, Examiner.

H. S. LANE, L. W. TRAPP, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A HAIR DRESSING IMPLEMENT FOR WINDING AND HEATING STRANDS OF HAIR AND FOR FIXING THE CURLED HAIR FOR DRYING THE CURLED STRANDS WHILE UNDER TENSION ON THE CURLING SURFACE OF SAID IMPLEMENT, CONSISTING OF A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL CURLING IRON WITH A ROW OF UPSTANDING TEETH AT ONE SIDE HAVING PERFORATIONS IN THE WALL THEREOF AND HAVING A HEATING ELEMENT DISPOSED THEREIN, SAID CURLING IRON BEING CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF AIR UNDER PRESSURE TO DELIVER AIR AROUND SAID HEATING ELEMENT AND THROUGH THE PERFORATIONS OF SAID HOLLOW CURLING IRON, A PLURALITY OF TUBELIKE ADAPTORS OF DIFFERENT DIAMETERS MOUNTED ON SAID CURLING IRON IN CONTACT THEREWITH TO PROVIDE CURLING SURFACES OF GREATER DIAMETER THAN SAID CYLINDRICAL CURLING IRON, SAID TUBE-LIKE ADAPTORS HAVING PERFORATIONS FOR THE ESCAPE OF AIR PASSING FROM THE PERFORATIONS IN THE WALL OF SAID CURLING IRON AND HAVING SLOTTED PORTIONS RECEIVING THE TEETH OF THE CURLING IRON TO EFFECT INTIMATE CONTACT WITH THE HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL CURLING IRON. 